3. Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
Tarantino fans were absolutely stoked for the release of Kill Bill Volume 2, after having been so thoroughly thrilled by the fight in the House of Blue Leaves at the conclusion of Volume 1. The stage was being set for one final, epic showdown between The Bride (Uma Thurman) and Bill (David Carradine), with trailers showing clips of what appeared to be a seated swordfight between the two. Like most others, I couldn't wait to see how she took Bill down, and I settled into my cinema seat in avid anticipation. When Beatrix Kiddo - that's The Bride's real name - finally confronts Bill, we get a grand, tense dialogue between the two about the nature of superheroes among other things, and after a brief seated blade duel, The Bride simply applies the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique - a deadly manoeuvre taught to her by her mentor, the Pai Mei - killing Bill as soon as he walks five steps out of his chair. While few would have expected such a brief end to the saga, and it was certainly a surprise, so much hype had been built up about this epic, surely lengthy fight that it hit a sour note with many. It is as though we were actually given the goods in Volume 1 against our knowledge and Part 2, easily the wordier of the two, was mainly about exposition - brilliant though it is - and less about the fights. On the whole the climax was still satisfying; it simply felt a little too facetious, but then, would a 70-year-old man struggling to keep up with Uma Thurman really be all that great to watch anyway?